Java001

Yeah, one wonders how and why this happened. One cannot really compare road to track, but last year CSA took some juniors to the Worlds in Moscow. CSA paid a portion of expenses, but parents/sponsors in addition had to cough up between 15-25 K depending on whether new bikes and other bits of kit were “recommended” . Whilst the kids ( and some parents) had a fantastic holiday, even our best riders were way off top 20 and in some cases top 50/100 world times. They did not have to go to Moscow to figure this out – they could simply have compared their best times in SA with published world times. Would it not have been money better spent by CSA and the parents/sponsors to rather have trained to improve times before going overseas, rather than travel to Moscow ? Could it be that CSA do not regard these guys as good enough YET ?

Zilla, I am not sure whether PPA had any involvement in the Knysna event; it certainly was not published and I think PPA just became a scapegoat for CSA rule infringements by the officials & organisers. CSA licences were used, CSA day licences had to be bought by even the funriders, Commissaires & line officials were from the CSA Officials body, so this was very much a CSA event - as pointed out by Fanie Fiets all races fall under CSA auspices whether we like it or not. Cannot see why & how CSA would relinquish the stranglehold they have over cycling events in SA ? So with CSA owning and controlling it all, how does PPA help or intend to help them ? Do they in fact need help ?

I think it is good for the sport that PPA and CSA are no longer affiliated, but event organisers will have to really be up to speed with all the rules&regs of both bodies. Hybrid funrider/race events like the recent Pick and Pay Cape Argus Rotary Knysna Cycle Tour serves as good example - the race documentation on their website made it appear that it was a CSA sanctioned event as the following statement appeared on the online entry form: If you are not a member of CSA, a cycling club affiliated to CSA or the PPA, you will have to buy a one-day CSA event day licence. So I would presume that a whole lot of funriders ( and also later those who could not provide proof of CSA licence, because they had no online CSA access or members list) paid R 35 to CSA for the privilege of riding. A further problem was when race organisers were queried about CSA distance rules for youth riders being contravened, they indicated that certain events fell under PPA rules, so the CSA rule did not apply. This is going to cause a lot of drama and uncertainty in future.

CSA income statement to 31/12/2011 here at http://www.cyclingsa.com/App_Resources/Uploads/FILE00000855.PDF Total licence fee & other income R 5 614 063 Licence fees and day licences as % of this = 60% Total Salaries R 1 572 770 Equal to R 131 000 per month. Interesting!

Yeah, we have probably been paying for a nice bit of legal fees as well !

Any news yet ?

or maybe even Oom Scott ?

The plot thickens - advert now deleted message appearing when trying to access the link

This is where the originate from http://www.pyrolights.co.za/

Remember Phillip from Wayne Pheiffer's shop; he left in maybe 2009 or 2010 then went to Action Cycles and from there went to Probike. Is it the same guy ?

Gather that the Augustyn shop will focus more on training, nutrition, kit, setups etc. than on selling of bikes, but yes, a lot of shops for a small dorpie such as PE and a lot of bikes, mainly MTB, are sold every month. Problem is that none of the clubs can quite get their heads around where all these bikes are, as organised funrides and races attract far less than the number of bikes around. 2nd Breath never really sold new bikes, but did servicing and sold 2nd hand bikes, mostly consignment stuff. When they closed, the only 2nd hand bike business that remained was Recycle Sports in Charlo, run by Mark and his wife. Heck of a nice guy and crazy busy with customers everytime I have been there. The only explanation for why there are so few riders when compared to bikes sold, must be that bikes are bought and then simply stand in the garage as the owner discovers he or she is "just not that into cycling". That potentially means that there is a lot of good secondhand stock around, if you know where to look or if pepole know where to look for you! There is huge demand for 2nd hand and if bikes/equipment are well priced and business well run, a lot of money can be made. The shops selling new bikes are not interested in 2nd hand as they cannot let 2nd hand compete with new stuff on the floor.

100% agree - Rob is a fine fellow and also the only qualified ( as in "have the papers to prove it") bike mechanic in Port Elizabeth. His shop is very much MTB orientated and not all that popular with the roadies anymore. Other problem starting to surface is that most that support the shop do so because of being able to chat to Rob; due to his ill health of a while ago + having to build wheels he does not get through his work, so access to him is very actively being prevented and obstructed by family and staff. In fine PE tradition, a lot of cyclists have simply gone elsewhere ......................... to many cyclists the only difference between their LBS and CWC/CRC is the ability to visit and have a chat to the owner of the shop. If this is restricted or disappears, LBS's will close and CWC/CRC will continue to grow and flourish. Back to PE bike shops in general - so the scenario looks like this 1. Action Cycles get sold 2. Cycle Lab finally opens a shop and Garth Botha operates it. 3. The Augustyn brothers, John Lee & Wesley, open Augustyn Cycles. So this begs the question - can PE sustain all these shops and if not, who is going to close down ?

Good point made, but I think some of the best riders simply did not bother to enter! Road Cycling in Eastern Cape is not having one of its better years and the lack of active clubs and young riders coming through the ranks, are major concerns. Also major problems in getting a functioning Provincial Body together, not at all helped by the challenges posed by the merger of PE & EL as dictated by CSA. Looking at EP Champs it attracted low numbers; it was held in East London for the first time in years and whilst it was extremely well organised, the lack of significant numbers of entries from East London based riders was embarrasing. In some categories, PE based riders travelled 650 km to go and race against other PE riders in EL and I foresee tremendous resistance in future, if EC Champs are going to held in East London every two years, as planned. The other major problem was that it was announced very late in 2012, when many riders had already finalised training schedules and events for 2012. Add to this the fact that we are perhaps the only province to have had our Regional Champs long after the Road SA's and all becomes a bit of a joke. This meant that we could have a rider finishing on the podium that did not go to SA's OR we could have a rider that had a podium in SA's that did not even participate in the Regional Champs. I know the club you refer to - they are one of about two really active clubs in Port Elizabeth, but unless I am mistaken, very few of their riders were at the EC Champs?

John Lee has joined NMMU Club in Port Elizabeth and whilst he is off the bike for a while will assist the club and it's riders.

I had a similar question which I posted in the buyers guide section at the following link, but had no feedback. https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/113911-compact-road-bike-front-light-%e2%80%93-sub-r-700/ I considered the following options at the time ( pricing may have changed) Magicshine 838 @ R 585 http://www.trailligh...t_black_005.htm Magicshine 838B @ R 650 http://www.thehubsa....-mj838b-lights/ Gemini Sport Lumi 900 lumen @ R450 http://www.thehubsa....discount-again/ CREE XM-L T6 1600Lm Headlamp /Bicycle Light SET @ R 690 http://www.bidorbuy...._Light_SET.html

Anyone, with some advice here .............................

Wonder what this means ? Cycling South Africa Addresses Incorrect Team Kit Matter http://www.cyclingsa.com/App_Resources/Images/Gallery/FILE00000534.jpg http://www.cyclingsa.com/App_Themes/Website/Images/further_details.gif 7 Mar 2012 Cycling South Africa would like to confirm that the officials at the SA Ladies Elite road cycling championships held in Nelspruit on Saturday were notified of an irregularity in terms of team kit during the ladies race. The necessary remedial action will be taken in accordance with the UCI Rules and Regulations by CyclingSA officials and discussed with the offending teams.

I have to upgrade from an Owleye 5 LED front light, that is really just for being visible, to something that lights up the road properly for late afternoon and early morning training. Have looked at lights that look as bulky as full size torches and cost well in excess of R 1000, but they seem aimed at MTBiking. . I am running out of handlebar space with space for clip-ons, Polar mount etc. , so really want a compact light. Max battery life required per ride is perhaps 2-3 hours. Below a list of what I found on the Hub + bidorbuy – any hubbers using any of these lights and can advise of the good, the bad and the shocking and/or anything else to recommend ? Magicshine 838 @ R 585 http://www.trailligh...t_black_005.htm Magicshine 838B @ R 650 http://www.thehubsa....-mj838b-lights/ Gemini Sport Lumi 900 lumen @ R450 http://www.thehubsa....discount-again/ CREE XM-L T6 1600Lm Headlamp /Bicycle Light SET @ R 690 http://www.bidorbuy...._Light_SET.html

A roadie perhaps told Julie-ass that until now there has been "no politics" in mountainbiking ?

Reading the article it is clear that it is not a simple fashion or kit issue, as many commentators seem to suggest, but rather that clothing was used to "combine" teams to give certain teams and riders an unfair advantage or that clothing was perhaps used to deliberately create confusion? Surely these clothing rules are there for a good reason and should for the same reason be applied? Always insipring for a cylist to have won by having the legs, only to be dq'd because of clever tricks being played by team managers. Would be real interesting to see how this will play out.

It was perhaps well overdue that someone challenged CSA’s strangle hold and control of cycling. In a modern society, where co-operation and consensus should rule, this big stick mentality of “we will not sanction or approve your race, if you don’t belong to CSA and/or do it the CSA way”, should NEVER be allowed. Perception often counts for more than hard facts and the perception around CSA (ironically within the cycling fraternity that they should serve) is that they are managed by corrupt and incompetent officials, who simply via a flawed voting system do not represent the needs of the majority of cyclists. So they have had a major credibility crisis on their hands for a number of years and this is not going to be helped by what seems to be a rather heavy handed way of dealing with PPA, who in terms of numbers seem to be a big stakeholder in South African recreational cycling. Much of it has to do with CSA feeling cosy and secure in the knowledge that they are effectively a government sporting body tasked by Government with transformation of the sport and are therefore authorised to “tax” cyclists, who mostly neither need nor want them, but are forced via Provincial bodies to support them. To back them up when challenged, they rely on big brother, SASCOC, who in turn is prescribed to and financed by LOTTO – so it’s a very simple structure, that apart from the occasional few million rand going missing between LOTTO, SASCOC and CSA, has actually until know exploited recreational cycling quite effectively. Problem is that if membership and licensing were not compulsory, very few, if any, cyclists or provinces would pay any license fees to belong to CSA. CSA has little to offer Mr Average Cyclist, who really is neither impressed nor concerned with them apparently being the only recognised SA body allowed UCI affiliation. PPA make some very valid legal claims and due to the loss of numbers involved for CSA, they will not be able to “allow” PPA members to cease being CSA licensed, so we are likely to see a HUGE battle in 2012 that is more than likely going to involve some government intervention via the Department of Sport and Recreation and others. Maybe, just maybe, something good can come from all of this?

Niner, also missed the grammar & spelling class one cyclist /two cyclists ................. one motorist/two motorists. An interesting post to read, but hard work to decipher what is being said ..............................................

+ 1000

The LOTTO, as funding arm "owns" SASCOC, who in turn owns CSA - if any of these bodies tell CSA to jump, the only question is "how high, boss?" CSA accordingly is tasked with carrying out whatever Government Agenda it is instructed to carry out and the current obsession is Olympic participation. There are also great concern on the part of SASCOC that the CSA Board is perhaps a bit to "pale", so expect some meddling here in due course ...................... Quite an eye-opener to see how things work in other provinces. Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth) & Border ( East London), despite geographical challenges, became East Cape Cycling two years ago, to align itself to the one province idea. In the Eastern Cape region there is no PPA or similar bodies; there are 22 clubs - 14 in Port Elizabeth and 8 in East London. Only 6 are active in Port Elizabeth and 6 are active in East London, so there are 10 inactive clubs. The cycle shops sell a lot of bikes ( +/- 10 mtb's for every 1 roadbike), so there are many cyclists, but many on the roads are triathlon or Ironman orientated, who do not belong to clubs and clubs struggle to get cyclists involved. This results in weak and inactive Clubs who are neither interested nor equipped with enough manpower to get involved in the provincial structure. East Cape Cycling is soon having an AGM, but have struggled to obtain nominations from Clubs to fill the vacant positions caused by the entire 2011 executive stepping down. Most people also realise that becoming part of the Provincial Body affiliated to CSA, means buying into CSA ideas, plans and agendas and with great negativity here about CSA, are not prepared to get their hands dirty. Maybe affiliating with PPA might become a viable option ?

.......... and there you have just inadvertently explained the link between crime and racism in SA.